El dramático aumento y la volatilidad de los precios de los alimentos durante el último año han sacudido al sistema alimentario mundial. Por lo general, tanto los gobiernos como la comunidad dedicada al desarrollo internacional han respondido ante diversos aspectos de la crisis alimentaria, pero todavía permanecen las preguntas sobre si se han tomado o no las acciones más adecuadas, cuál es la mejor forma de responder y qué nos aguarda en el futuro.

The report includes three essays about Responding to the World Food Crisis: Getting on the Right Track by Joachim von Braun, High Global Food Prices: The Challenges and Opportunities by Josette Sheeran, and Policy Implications of High Food Prices for Africa by Namanga Ngongi.

"African agriculture is at a crossroads. The current high food prices and the instability they have provoked in several countries have added impetus for African countries to review their agricultural policies and programs. New agricultural policies will have to be more focused on staple food crops and on their main producers-smallholders, most of whom are women. The new policies must remove constraints that impede access by smallholder farmers to the knowledge, technology, and financial services they need to increase farm productivity in a profitable and environmentally sustainable manner.

La demanda de biocombustibles se está incrementando debido a la necesidad cada vez mayor de energéticos, el alza en el costo del petróleo, la búsqueda de fuentes de energía renovables y no contaminantes y el deseo de aumentar los ingresos agrícolas en los países en desarrollo. Asimismo, ha aumentado en forma drástica la necesidad de contar con cultivos, como el maíz y la caña de azúcar, que pueden utilizarse como materia prima para producir biocombustibles. Esta demanda ha tenido a nivel mundial un impacto significativo y cada vez mayor en los sistemas alimentarios.

"This paper describes the emergence of improved traditional planting pits (zaï) in Burkina Faso in the early 1980s as well as their advantages, disadvantages and impact. The zaï emerged in a context of recurrent droughts and frequent harvest failures, which triggered farmers to start improving this local practice. Despair triggered experimentation and innovation by farmers. These processes were supported and complemented by external intervention. Between 1985 and 2000 substantial public investment has taken place in soil and water conservation (SWC).

Floodplain wetlands are the major common pool natural resource in Bangladesh. Mostly men fish, and both men and women collect aquatic plants and snails. Case studies contrast a women-only, men-only, and mixed community based organization (CBO), each of which manages a seasonal floodplain wetland. The two CBOs in which women hold key positions are in Hindu communities where more women use aquatic resources, work for an income, and belong to other local institutions. In the oldest of these CBOs, more women have gradually become office bearers as their recognition in the community has grown.

Fisheries are complex and interdependent ecological and social systems that require integrated management approaches. The actions of one person or group of users affect the availability of the resource for others. Managing such common pool resources requires conscious efforts by a broad range of stakeholders to organize and craft rules enabling equitable and sustainable use of the resources for everyone?s benefit. Collective action is often a prerequisite for the development of community-based institutions and the devolution of authority...

In this brief, we explore the role that social institutions -specifically property rights and collective action - may play in the development of agroforestry.... In the future, property rights and collective action will play increasingly pivotal roles in defining rights and responsibilities over the externalities of tree management practices.

Hasta finales de la década de los sesenta, los pobladores de la isla San Salvador, en Filipinas, gozaban del acceso libre e ilimitado a los recursos naturales costeros. A principios de los años setenta, una ola de inmigración, combinada con la integración de la economía de la isla al mercado internacional de peces ornamentales, y el cambio hacia las operaciones de pesca destructivas, arruinaron las zonas pesqueras y dieron lugar a los conflictos.

La agrosilvicultura trata sobre los sistemas agrícolas integrados, en que los árboles juegan un papel prominente. La agrosilvicultura puede proporcionar una variedad de funciones o beneficios para los agricultores y las comunidades. Los más fáciles de identificar son los productos forestales utilizados por los humanos: leña para fuego, madera, vigas, frutas, medicinas y resinas. Un segundo grupo de beneficios consiste en los servicios que proporcionan los árboles a otras actividades agrícolas de los agricultores: abono vegetal, sombra, conservación de los suelos y estacas.